Versailles News: A timely thought

Time is free but it’s priceless. You can’t possess it but you can use it. You can’t keep it but you can spend it and once you’ve lost it you can never get it back.

Life is not just the passing of time. Life is the collection of of experiences so we should make the most of it. Or to take a quote from an old soap opera; “As sands through the hourglass, so are the ‘Days of Our Lives’.” I have always thought that catch phrase to be brilliant and thought-worthy.

Each of us have been given the gift of life (an hourglass) and when we are young we are at the top of the hourglass, which is the broadest part, we don’t notice the sand that passes through the narrow part of the hourglass instead we only see the vastness of sand. In our youth the days seem so long we have so much time and energy that we can pursue a wide variety of activities and still be bored.

As we age, our lives become filled with responsibilities. Even though every day has the same 24 hours or 1440 minutes we fill the time differently as we transition through life. As children we had limited responsibilities, perhaps all we had to do was listen to our parents, brush our teeth, comb our hair, and make our beds. But with each year came more responsibility and less supervision, and we loved it. Eventually we were able to make our own life decisions only to discover we now have hundreds of responsibilities between, family, work and everyday living. Some of the biggest responsibilities are the simplest summed up as maintenance, such as caring for our bodies (food, hygiene, clothing), family (welfare, guidance, education) and personal property (shelter, transportation, possessions).

Often I liken our lives to the performance of Ed Brenn, the plate spinner on the Ed Sullivan show. Brenn, accompanied by the quick tempo of “Flight of the Bumble Bee,” would spin a plate on a pole then add another and another, racing between the plates that were already spinning and adding more until he had 10 – 15 plates spinning simultaneously.

It’s a good life but at some point we find ourselves too busy to get involved with all things and are forced to prioritize our lives, making decisions based on what we believe is the best use of our time and what we believe to be of importance. We become aware that we cannot get as much work done in a day as once upon a time. We recognize ownership requires upkeep, which requires large amounts of our time so we make lifestyle adjustments, redirect our focus, and every few years repeat the process. Over time our focus is more on quality than quantity, especially as we feel the grains of sand circling the narrow part of the hourglass.

But is it all over when every grain of sand passes through the narrow neck? Not at all, consider the narrow neck symbolic of living in the moment of clarity. Consider also the narrow neck symbolic of the narrow gate. Might each grain of sand which relocates in the bottom be symbolic of our faith focused journey to our eternal destination? It’s worth pondering.

Upcoming events:

Tonight and Saturday evening the Vet’s Club will host Karaoke in “the Bunker” (below the Vet’s Club). Music begins at 7:30 p.m. and is open to the public.

Saturday, the Lady Tigers basketball team will be conducting a car wash and bake sale from 8 a.m. – noon in the St. Denis Church parking lot.

The annual Bike Rodeo will be held Saturday at 9 a.m. to noon at the Versailles EMS Department on Baker Road.

Sunday, from 4-7 p.m. at Shelter #3 in Greenville Park will be live music, hamburgers, brats and more in celebration of National Cancer Survivors Day. No admission just donations.

Next weekend is Poultry Days with barbecue chicken dinners served at 4:30 p.m. on Friday, after the parade on Saturday and Sunday after 11 a.m.

June 11, local military servicemen/women and veterans are being asked to participate in the military portion of the Poultry Day’s parade. Those interested are asked to dress patriotic (service or veteran uniform or hat/cap, etc.). All military personnel; past and present are invited to attend a free breakfast at Johns IGA (1327 E. Main St., aka SR #47) beginning as early as 7 a.m. and serving until gone. There will be a limited number of attendance gifts on hand. The parade line-up will begin around 10:15 a.m. from the same location. In case of inclement weather, breakfast will be held at the Versailles Vets Club on the corner of South Center and West Wood streets.

Mark your calendars for the upcoming Towne & Country Players performances of “Nunsense,” June 23 at 7:30 p.m., June 24 at 7:30 p.m. and June 26 at 2 p.m.

Congratulations and a special thank-you to Pastor David R. Wilson who celebrates 47 years in the ministry this Sunday, Rehmert Cycle Sales & Service (50 years in business) and Bill Ahrens Plumbing & Heating (50+ years in business). Congratulations to the recent graduates of Versailles and to this year’s valedictorians; Jessica Ahrens, Quincy Baltes, Madison Grilliot, Kristin Langston, Collin Peters, Rachel Shellhaas, and Megan VanSkyock. Good luck to the Versailles boys’ baseball team who competes at the state semifinals today.

Kathy Magoto is a volunteer citizen columnist, who serves The Daily Advocate readers weekly with her weekly Versailles community column. She can be reached at magmon1@embarqmail.com or at 526-3798. Feel free to contact her with Versailles news and tidbits. Viewpoints expressed in the article are the work of the author. The Daily Advocate does not endorse these viewpoints or the independent activities of the author.

Kathy Magoto is a volunteer citizen columnist, who serves The Daily Advocate readers weekly with her weekly Versailles community column. She can be reached at magmon1@embarqmail.com or at 526-3798. Feel free to contact her with Versailles news and tidbits. Viewpoints expressed in the article are the work of the author. The Daily Advocate does not endorse these viewpoints or the independent activities of the author.